Over 5,000 jobs at risk as Toys R Us and Maplin collapse into administration

 

Breaking: Struggling retailers fail to secure rescue deals

 

As many as 5,500 jobs are at risk after two struggling retailers have gone into administration after failing to secure rescue deals.

Toys R Us has reportedly lined up Moorfields to handle the process. The toy chain also faces a £15m VAT bill in the UK. It employs about 3,000 workers in its 106 stores.

Owned by Rutland Partners, electronics chain Maplin also faces imminent bankruptcy after it failed to secure a deal. PricewaterhouseCoopers, who had been conducting the talks on behalf of Maplin for the past eight weeks, has been lined up to handle the electrical retailer’s administration. It has 200 stores and employs 2,500 staff in the UK.

According to Sky News, the retailer had been in talks with Edinburgh Woollen Mill, the clothing company that owns Peacocks, Country Casuals and several other retailers, over a possible sale.

Meanwhile two possible buyers — The Entertainer and Alteri Investors — were understood to have held talks about buying parts of Toys R Us UK but no deal could be secured.